Impossible
by Mycroft-mione
Summary: Impossible, she thought. It was impossible for that woman to have survived the battle all those years ago. But Ginny didn't doubt what she saw. The Daily Prophet hadn't lied ever since it got rid of Fudge and Skeeter.


**Word count** : 2145

 **Written for** :

The Mystery Competition - Perplexing Myc, you will be writing about Bellatrix Lestrange and Ginny Weasley. You must write about these two characters being mortal enemies and you must use the word 'agelast' in your story.

* * *

 **Impossible**

* * *

 _Impossible_ , she thought.

It was _impossible_ for that woman to have survived the battle all those years ago. No, not a woman - that inhuman _thing_ just pretending to have a soul. Calling her a person would suggest that she deserved any amount of pity or kindness or generosity... which she never could, not after what she did.

But Ginny didn't doubt what she saw.

Here was the witch who had nearly killed her and her friends in a three-on-one duel and was responsible for so many deaths. She killed Tonks. She drove Neville's parents to insanity with a flick of her wand and walked away smiling.

It was enough to drive someone crazy from anger instead of pain.

Ginny balled up the Prophet, trying to crush it in her hands. A simple spell would do the trick, but Ginny wanted to break the paper like she would break Bellatrix, if given the chance. She had failed once. She couldn't fail again.

* * *

It had been four years since she had gone into hiding, if the tally marks cut into Bellatrix's forearm were true. Four years of charming filthy muggle men into giving her whatever she pleased. Four years of glorious freedom from the nasty pit of hell called Azkaban, at least. Yet, it was four years of ratty hair and meager food, which didn't suit Bellatrix at all. If she had to live like a savage, there had better be a purpose to it all.

The Dark Lord would certainly never see his most loyal, most faithful servant suffer such conditions.

So Bellatrix found someone to hunt. She found a wizarding newspaper by sheer chance, dropped by a stranger in the dark alleys of London. And on the front cover was a picture that sent ideas spinning in her head - the moving faces of the high-achieving Aurors at the Ministry. There Bellatrix spotted the name Weasley, and hissed.

"Gone in for a nice little job, have you, girly?" she said, flattening out the paper to focus on the red-haired girl. She didn't recognize the first name, but it didn't matter. If she couldn't have the mother, the one who nearly killed her, she would have the daughter. One blood-traitor bitch was good as another.

But Bellatrix was cautious. She had failed once. She couldn't fail again.

* * *

Ginny deftly braided her hair, a task no less difficult than when she was a little girl at Hogwarts. (Apparently mothers weren't supposed to have long hair. Ginny, always the very model of complacency, chopped hers off to waist length.) In about twenty minutes, Percy's family was arriving for a playdate with her and Harry and the kids.

She sighed, preparing herself to greet Audrey with fake enthusiasm. There was nothing really wrong with her - the problem was more that she and Percy were too good of a match. Who else would ramble on for so long that interesting stories about the fashion industry they worked in seemed like lectures?

Ginny shook her head. Today, she would be nice, even if it meant shoving important thoughts out of her head. The priority would be having a relaxing afternoon, not concocting revenge plots.

That all went out the window as soon as Percy showed up in the fireplace.

" _Ginny_ ," he practically shouted. " _Harry_ , let me in, won't you? There are some very, very significant issues that we must discuss." As soon as Harry gave him the all-clear, he flooed in, gently putting little Molly down on the carpet. "Go find James and Albus. I love you, darling, but the grown-ups are going to talk now." They scampered off, and Percy turned to them. "Audrey's not coming. Said she didn't want to get involved."

"What's wrong, Perce?" Ginny asked. Her brother was still wearing his work robes, and there were great bags under his eyes. He must have been up all night working. While that wasn't unusual for Percy, something about his voice was troubling.

"Haven't you read the Prophet?" he barked. "They're mad. Lestrange can't be back. Mother fought her, and won! It's ridiculous how they're taking this seriously."

Ginny bit her lip. "Um, Harry?" she called towards the other room.

"Have you got a copy?" said Percy, rummaging around in his briefcase. Ginny nodded absentmindedly, handing him the newspaper from the table. He pored over it, stabbing certain sentences with his finger as he reread.

Harry walked back in, trailing three toddlers on his ankle. They were delighted by the silly face Harry was making.

"Ith tha like Wolamore?" James asked, wearing a big grin to match Harry's that showed off his two front teeth. He seemed proud of himself.

" _James_!" Ginny cried. "We do _not_ joke about Voldemort. And your father looks nothing like him - don't you _ever_ say that again."

Albus's thumb slid out of his mouth. The children whimpered and toddled out of the room together, finally letting go of Harry's leg. He looked at the kids, then Ginny, and seemed concerned.

"Ginny, what was that about? It was just a bit of fun..."

Ginny sank into the chair closest to her. "I'm sorry, it was just bad timing."

Percy cut in. "She wasn't being an agelast, Harry, if that's what you're saying. It's perfectly natural to react poorly to mentions of You-Know-Who now that they're printing _this_." He pointed at the newspaper again.

"What? What's it say?" Harry asked, sliding the article towards him. "Oh-"

His gaze rested on the full portrait of Bellatrix from her Death Eater days. Ginny knew he couldn't have forgotten her face, but the image was so hypnotizing that she couldn't blame Harry for looking.

"It's not true," Percy told them. Ginny opened her mouth to protest, then shut it. She didn't know anything for sure, but didn't people always say to follow your heart? Or your gut?

"Yeah?" Harry asked her quietly. He could always tell when she had something to say. It was a sweet couple-like thing, and only a bit creepy.

"I think it's true," she began. "Don't get me wrong - I don't actually know any more than you do. But I have a feeling..."

"Like my scar," Harry murmured.

"Not really like his scar," Percy said, "but yes, an unproven feeling that something's wrong that comes from nowhere. Might I remind you-"

"It's a better source than the Prophet, even," Ginny argued. "At least my brain doesn't have a track record of being run by terrorist or illegal Animagi."

"That was _once_ -"

"So that's two sources backing up the claim, _and_ one of them is me-"

"Okay, okay," said Harry, and Ginny turned to him, ready to defend herself again. But this time she didn't need to.

"I believe Ginny, all right? It makes sense that she's back - they never found her body, did they?"

"It was blown up," Percy said staunchly. "There was nothing to find."

"Or, she got away when everyone thought your mum killed her, and she's been on the run ever since. Now someone's sighted her and they've figured out the truth."

Ginny listened to Harry and found herself nodding along with him. This talk of escape and survival made her blood boil, but she tried to hold it back. She couldn't let them know how strongly she felt, or she would never get a chance to do something about it.

Percy sighed. "I can't say I believe it now, but I know last time this sort of thing happened I was wrong. So let's not fight anymore. Just... be careful, all right?"

He frowned, smoothing back his hair. Ginny appreciated the gesture of peace from him, deciding to drop the issue. "Okay."

"Okay," Harry added.

There was a pause as the adults sat awkwardly around the table, no one speaking. Finally, the sound of the kids playing became loud, and Harry went to go check on them. A minute later, Ginny and Percy joined them.

Ginny smiled at James and Albus and Molly, letting them know that they could clamber over to her without fear. She hadn't really been mad, but with little kids, you never knew if they took something more harshly than you meant it.

"Tho ca we pway Wolamore?" James asked excitedly. Ginny shook her head, exasperated. "Go get the toy brooms," she said grudgingly.

The cheers were louder than ever before. She rarely let the kids play on the brooms, making it more special when they were allowed. Harry accompanied the three to the closet and summoned their little brooms as the kids jumped around with glee.

Percy turned to Ginny. "It'll be okay."

Ginny wasn't so sure.

* * *

Bellatrix didn't like making plans. They were pointless distractions, remnants of the Dark Lord's paranoia that discounted her ability to think on her feet. But she resigned herself to the task. Anything for the Weasley girl to die.

She sat pondering her state of weakness for hours. But it was impossible to obtain a wand and Polyjuice potion without being spotted by anyone from the magical London.

Finally, Bellatrix gave up, muttering to herself about wasted time. The Weasley girl - now, woman - would surely know that she was alive. Why make any attempt at subterfuge? Only a wand was needed, ideally one that suited her, but nearly any would respond to her powerful touch.

Suddenly, Bellatrix had a wicked idea.

The next day, she began her preparations. Her skills had been honed after years on the run, so that a break-in to a Muggle house was disappointingly easy. She fled with clothes, makeup, and food, as well as a few trophies of her visit, including a used knife. The blade had felt so _right_ in her hands - there was no reason to leave it behind. And the owners no longer had any use for it, now did they?

There was little more to do, aside from the donning of clothes and application of makeup. Bellatrix was used to wizarding powders and creams, but she adapted easily to the Muggle stuff. When she finished her transformation, she could pass for any Muggle woman. This pained Bellatrix, but she took comfort in her plans. Anything for the Weasley girl to die. _Anything for the Weasley girl to die._

Bellatrix sat at a table in Diagon Alley, watching the people stream by. She had obtained a wand through pickpocketing, and it was sufficient for her purposes, if not ideal. All that was left of her plan was to find her victim. She knew nothing about the recent history of Ginevra Weasley, but a few casual interactions with shady characters had taught her that Ginny was married to Harry Potter.

Now, she had even more reason to hate. Potter was the most terrible wizard alive - he was the reason she had fallen into nothingness.

Bellatrix's hate grew and grew and until she could do nothing but imagine the Weasley girl dead at her feet...

* * *

Ginny screamed.

Albus and James lay still on the ground, a burst of magic striking them from behind and knocking them onto their backs.

She raced towards them, but somehow her feet would not move, and then her legs became bound. Ginny grasped her wand, yelling every spell that came into her head, screaming and firing them with her wand hand.

It was frozen as well.

Ginny could do nothing at all but scream inside her head as the magic paralysis spread through her body and overcome her struggling. Her head threatened to burst when a witch appeared in front of her, jabbing her stomach with a wand.

"I've _got_ you," she cried. Through her mane of curls Ginny could see almost nothing, just two black eyes that instantly filled her with terror.

"I've got your little _babies_!" she taunted, waving her wand, sending the children flying through the air and landing in a heap farther down the alley.

Ginny burned with rage. She longed to kill Bellatrix Lestrange, and she cursed herself for being a fool and going into London-

Bellatrix leaned in towards Ginny, placing her face right in front of Ginny's motionless one and grinning. "You have a choice to make before you die. I'll unfreeze you for a moment."

Ginny's head seemed to melt. It emerged from the paralysis, and her first thought was to scream again, but Bellatrix interrupted the thought.

"Oh, no, dear, I can't allow that. No one can see or hear us." She laughed, throwing her head back with insanity. "I've missed this!" she screeched.

Tears pooled in Ginny's eyes, the salt stinging her and making her blink. Bellatrix continued.

"You and I will duel," she whispered, almost grazing Ginny's face with hers. "And when I win, I will kill each of your children, slooowwly." Bellatrix laughed.

Ginny waited, completely helpless.

"And then, after you watch me cut them open and spill their blood until they stop - then I will kill you."


End file.
